1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus and a handling method thereof, and more particularly, it relates to an ink jet recording apparatus which is forwarded or shipped from a manufacturing factory in a condition that transporting ink different from recording ink is filled in a recording head, and a method for handling such an ink jet recording apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
As recording apparatuses having a printer, copier or facsimile function or recording apparatuses (printing apparatuses) used as a composite electronic equipment including a computer or a word processor or as an output equipment such as a work station, there has widely been proposed an ink jet recording apparatus in which recording is executed by discharging ink toward a recording medium (recording paper and the like) such as paper, cloth, plastic sheet, OHP sheet and the like in response to image information (recording information). Further, there are various requirements for material of the recording medium, and, recently, development for such requirements has been advanced, with the result that an ink jet recording apparatus, in which cloth, leather, non-woven fabric or metal, as well as paper (including thin paper and treated paper) as a normal recording medium or a resin film (OHP sheet and the like) is used as the recording medium, has been utilized.
The ink jet recording apparatus has widely been applied to printers, copiers and facsimile devices since it has low noise and low running cost and it can easily be made compact and forms colored images. A discharge port (normally, plural discharge ports) for discharging an ink droplet is formed in a front surface of an ink discharge head (ink jet recording head as ink jet recording means) of the ink jet recording apparatus. Although a dimension of the discharge port has been in the range of several tens of xcexcms, recently, the dimension of the discharge port has been reduced more and more as a higher quality image has been requested. On the basis of a discharge signal processed in the apparatus in response to liquid droplet discharge information (recording data and the like) sent from a host machine, the ink droplet is discharged from the discharge port to form an image (including characters and symbols) on the recording medium.
In the ink jet recording apparatus in which the recording is effected by discharging the ink from the ink jet recording head as the recording means toward the recording medium, since the recording is effected by discharging the ink from the fine discharge port, the discharge port may be clogged to cause poor discharge (including non-discharge), thereby deteriorating the quality of the recorded image. To avoid this, recovery means for recovering and maintaining ink discharge performance of the recording head has been used. As such recovery means, for example, there has been used suction means for recovering and maintaining the ink discharge performance by refreshing the ink in the discharge port by suction-removing foreign matters such as viscosity-increased ink and a bubble from the discharge port by generating negative pressure within capping means by driving a capping mechanism for capping the discharge port of the recording head and a pump connected to the capping mechanism in a capping condition, or recovery means including a wiper (wiping means) for wiping (cleaning) foreign matters such as ink adhered to the discharge port face of the recording head.
On the other hand, in the ink jet recording apparatus, in consideration of user""s convenience and saving, there has been proposed a so-called tank exchanging type in which an ink tank containing ink jet recording ink can be mounted on the recording head independently and can be exchanged into a new one when the ink is used up. Further, in the past, the recording head could easily be dismounted from a main body of the recording apparatus so that it can be exchanged by a new one by the user if the head is damaged.
However, in consideration of reliability and endurance of the recording head itself, there is an aspect in which the recording apparatus is forwarded from a recording apparatus manufacturing factory in a condition that the recording head was previously mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus. In this case, the recording apparatus is forwarded in an arrangement (condition) that the recording head itself is fixed to the recording apparatus so that mounting and dismounting of the recording head cannot be effected by the user. In such a case, it is more preferable to adopt an aspect in which the recording apparatus is forwarded from the manufacturing factory in a condition that the ink tank detachable with respect to the recording head is mounted on the ink jet recording head, as well as the ink jet recording head mounted on the recording apparatus, since a user""s setting-up operation upon usage of the apparatus can be reduced.
However, in such a case, the recording apparatus is forwarded from the manufacturing factory and transported to the user in a condition that the ink jet recording head is always filled with the recording ink. During the transportation, if the apparatus is exposed to a high temperature or is subjected to thermal shock due to so-called heat cycle from a high temperature to a low temperature, the ink may be solidified in the recording head due to evaporation of moisture from the recording ink within the recording head or change in condition may occur on an inner surface of the recording head, with the result that good recording performance of the ink jet recording head cannot be maintained.
To avoid this, it was considered to provide an arrangement in which the ink jet recording head is mounted on the main body of the apparatus in a condition that the head is filled with transporting ink and, on the other hand, the ink tank containing the recording ink is not mounted on the recording head but is packed separately and is housed together with the recording apparatus in a package for the entire apparatus. In this case, as the transporting ink, ink in which components in the recording ink that easily adhere are reduced as much as possible in comparison with the recording ink, the water ratio is reduced to suppress water evaporation and solvent component is increased, is used. By filling or loading such transporting ink within the recording head, at any time during the transportation and storage of the entire recording apparatus, the ink jet recording head can be maintained in a condition in which good recording performance can be achieved.
However, also in the recording apparatus in which such transporting ink is used, when the user initially uses the recording apparatus, an inconvenience, such as the recording performance is not completely normal, may occur. Occurrence of such inconvenience is based on a process for exchanging the transporting ink into the recording ink in the recording head by means of the recovery means of the recording apparatus when the user initially uses the recording apparatus and is based on non-smooth execution of such exchanging process. Namely, since the transporting ink has high viscosity for the purpose of suppression of water evaporation, flow of ink during suction is worsened in comparison with the recording ink, with the result that exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink in the recording head is not effected smoothly or, if the exchange itself is effected smoothly, residual transporting ink adhered to the wiping means or the suction means is transferred to the recording head again to be adhered thereto. For these reasons, the inconvenience occurs.
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus in which transporting ink is positively exchanged into recording ink when the user initially uses the recording apparatus, and removal of residual transporting ink within recovery means can be promoted, and re-transferring of the residual transporting ink to a recording head can be prevented, and a method for handling such an ink jet recording apparatus. Further, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus in which a time for setting a recording head upon initial usage of the recording apparatus can be saved, inconvenience due to poor setting of the recording head can be avoided, a setting-up ability of the recording apparatus is enhanced, and poor recording quality due to transporting ink in an initial stage of usage of the recording apparatus can be avoided, and a method for handling such an ink jet recording apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a carriage for mounting a recording head for effecting recording by discharging recording ink and for moving the recording head, and recovery means for effecting a recovery operation with respect to the recording head, and wherein the recording apparatus is forwarded from a manufacturing factory in a condition that the recording head filled with transporting ink different from the recording ink is mounted on the carriage, and further wherein an on-arrival recovery mode executed by the recovery means upon first usage of the recording apparatus by the user differs from a normal recovery mode executed by the recovery means after the first usage.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a carriage for mounting a recording head for effecting recording by discharging recording ink and for moving the recording head, and recovery means for effecting a recovery operation with respect to the recording head, and wherein the recording apparatus is forwarded from a manufacturing factory in a condition that the recording head filled with transporting ink different from the recording ink is mounted on the carriage, and further wherein an on-arrival recovery mode executed by the recovery means upon first usage of the recording apparatus by the user is the same as a recovery mode executed upon exchange of the recording head among a plurality of recovery modes executed by the recovery means after the first usage.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet-recording apparatus comprising a carriage for mounting a recording head for effecting recording by discharging-recording ink and for moving the recording head, and a mounting section for mounting an ink tank for storing the recording ink to be supplied to the recording head, and wherein the recording apparatus is forwarded from a manufacturing factory in a condition that the recording head filled with transporting ink different from the recording ink is mounted on the carriage, and further comprising detection means for detecting whether the ink tank is mounted on the mounting section, and alarm means for emitting an alarm to the user of the recording apparatus if the fact that the ink tank is not mounted on the mounting section upon first usage of the recording apparatus by the user is detected by means of the detection means.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for handling an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a carriage for mounting a recording head for effecting recording by discharging recording ink and for moving the recording head, and recovery means for effecting a recovery operation with respect to the recording head, the method comprising the steps of forwarding the ink jet recording apparatus from a manufacturing factory in a condition that the recording head filled with transporting ink different from the recording ink is mounted on the carriage, and executing an on-arrival recovery mode different from a normal recovery mode executed by the recovery means after first usage of the recording apparatus by the user by means of the recovery means upon the first usage, with respect to the recording head.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for handling an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a carriage for mounting a recording head for effecting recording by discharging recording ink and for moving the recording head, and recovery means for effecting a recovery operation with respect to the recording head, the method comprising the steps of forwarding the ink jet recording apparatus from a manufacturing factory in a condition that the recording head filled with transporting ink different from the recording ink is mounted on the carriage, and executing an on-arrival recovery mode same as a recovery mode executed upon exchange of the recording head among a plurality of recovery modes executed by the recovery means after first usage of the recording apparatus by the user by means of the recovery means upon the first usage, with respect to the recording head.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for handling an ink jet recording apparatus comprising a carriage for mounting a recording head for effecting recording by discharging recording ink and for moving the recording head, and a mounting section for mounting an ink tank for storing the recording ink to be supplied to the recording head, the method comprising the steps of forwarding the ink jet recording apparatus from a manufacturing factory in a condition that the recording head filled with transporting ink different from the recording ink is mounted on the carriage, and emitting alarm to the user of the recording apparatus if the fact that the ink tank is not mounted on the mounting section upon first usage of the recording apparatus by the user is detected.
According to the present invention, there can be provided an ink jet recording apparatus in which the transporting ink is positively exchanged into the recording ink when the user initially uses the recording apparatus, and removal of residual transporting ink within the recovery means can be promoted, and re-transferring of the residual transporting ink to the recording head can be prevented, and a method for handling such an ink jet recording apparatus. Further, there can be provided an ink jet recording apparatus in which a time for setting the recording head upon initial usage of the recording apparatus can be saved, inconvenience due to poor setting of the recording head can be avoided, and a setting-up ability of the recording apparatus is enhanced, and poor recording quality due to transporting ink in an initial stage of usage of the recording apparatus can be avoided, and a method for handling such an ink jet recording apparatus.
By adopting an arrangement in which suction means for effecting suction from the recording head is provided as the recovery means and suction pressure of the suction means upon ink suction from the recording head in the on-arrival recovery mode is set to be higher than suction pressure upon ink suction in the normal recovery mode, or an arrangement in which suction means for effecting suction from the recording head is provided as the recovery means and a suction amount of the suction means upon ink suction from the recording head in the on-arrival recovery mode is set to be greater than a suction amount upon ink suction in the normal recovery mode, or arrangement in which suction means for effecting suction from the recording head is provided as the recovery means and the number of suction operations of the suction means upon ink suction from the recording head in the on-arrival recovery mode is set to be greater than the number of suction operations upon ink suction in the normal recovery mode, or an arrangement in which the on-arrival recovery mode is a mode wherein suction operations of one kind in the normal recovery mode are repeated continuously plural times, even the transporting ink which may have viscosity greater than that of the recording ink can well be suction-removed from the recording means, the exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink in the recording head can be effected more positively, and deterioration of image quality due to mixing of the transporting ink and the recording ink in the recording head during the recording can be prevented more effectively.
By adopting an arrangement in which suction means for effecting suction from the recording head is provided as the recovery means and the number of idle suction operations for discharging the ink from a cap by driving the suction means in a communication condition between the interior of the cap and the atmosphere upon ink suction from the recording head by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode is set to be greater than the number of idle suction operations in the normal recovery mode, the transporting ink remaining within the cap can be discharged positively, and the interior of the cap can also be filled with the recording ink, and the residual transporting ink within the cap can be prevented from being transferred into the recording head again during the further capping and/or suction operations, and deterioration of image quality due to mixing of the transporting ink and the recording ink in the recording head during the recording can be prevented more effectively.
By adopting an arrangement in which suction means for effecting suction from the recording head and a wiper for wiping the recording head are provided as the recovery means and the number of wiping operations of the wiper after ink suction from the recording head by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode is set to be greater than the number of wiping operations of the wiper after ink suction in the normal recovery mode, the transporting ink remaining on the discharge port face of the recording head can be removed positively by the wiping operations, and deterioration of image quality due to mixing of the transporting ink and the recording ink in the recording head during the recording can be prevented more effectively.
By adopting an arrangement in which a wiper for wiping the recording head and a cleaner for cleaning the wiper are provided as the recovery means and the number of cleaning operations of the cleaner after the wiping of the wiper in the on-arrival recovery mode is set to be greater than the number of cleaning operations of the cleaner after the wiping in the normal recovery mode, when the discharge port face of the recording head is wiped, the residual transporting ink adhered to the wiper can be removed positively, and the residual transporting ink can be prevented from being transferred to the discharge port face of the recording head during further wiping, and deterioration of image quality due to mixing of the transporting ink and the recording ink in the recording head during the recording can be prevented more effectively.
By adopting an arrangement in which suction means for effecting suction from the recording head and a wiper for wiping the recording head are provided as the recovery means and, in the on-arrival recovery mode, after ink suction from the recording head is firstly effected by the suction means, by effecting the wiping of the wiper, since the process for exchanging from the transporting ink to the recording ink in the recording head is finished before the transporting ink is adhered to a new wiper and since the wiping operation is effected in a condition that the transporting ink is substantially removed from the discharge port face of the recording head and from the recording head, adhesion of the transporting ink onto the new wiper and the transferring of the residual transporting ink onto the discharge port face during the further wiping can be prevented, and good image quality can be maintained continuously from the initiation of usage of the recording apparatus.
By adopting an arrangement in which the viscosity of the transporting ink is greater than that of the recording ink or an arrangement in which the recording ink includes color material and the transporting ink does not include color material or has a color component less than that of the recording ink, even when the composition of the transporting ink is specialized in order to maintain the recording quality of the recording head, the poor recording quality due to the transporting ink in the initial stage of usage of the recording apparatus can be avoided.
Further, according to the present invention, there can be provided an ink jet recording apparatus in which exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink can be effected positively when the user initially uses the recording apparatus, and removal of the residual transporting ink within the recovery means can be promoted, and re-transferring of the residual transporting ink onto the recording head can be prevented, and, even if the recording head is exchanged for any reason when the user initially uses the recording apparatus, the residual transporting ink within the recovery means can well be removed, and the poor recording quality due to the transporting ink in the initial stage of usage of the recording apparatus can be avoided, and a method for handling such as ink jet recording apparatus. Further, there can be provided an ink jet recording apparatus in which the ink tank for the recording ink can be set positively in the on-arrival recovery mode, the process for exchanging the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively, and good recording quality can be maintained from the initiation of usage of the recording apparatus, and a method for handling such an ink jet recording apparatus.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is heated by an ink temperature maintaining electrothermal converter within the recording head before or during the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, even when the transporting ink has viscosity greater than that of the recording ink, by reducing the viscosity of the transporting ink, the transporting ink can well be suctioned and removed from the recording head, and exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is heated by an ink discharging electrothermal converter within the recording head before or during the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, even when the transporting ink has viscosity greater than that of the recording ink, by reducing the viscosity of the transporting ink by utilizing an existing ink discharging electrothermal converter, the transporting ink can well be suctioned and removed from the recording head, and exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is heated by an ink temperature maintaining electrothermal converter and an ink discharging electrothermal converter within the recording head before or during the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, even when the transporting ink has viscosity greater than that of the recording ink, by reducing the viscosity of the transporting ink, the transporting ink can well be suctioned and removed from the recording head, and exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is discharged by an ink discharging electrothermal converter within the recording head before or during the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is heated by an ink temperature maintaining electrothermal converter within the recording head and the transporting ink is discharged by an ink discharging electrothermal converter during the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is heated by an ink temperature maintaining electrothermal converter within the recording head from before the ink suction to the end of the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, even when the transporting ink has viscosity greater than that of the recording ink, by reducing the viscosity of the transporting ink, the transporting ink can well be suctioned and removed from the recording head, and exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is heated by an ink discharging electrothermal converter within the recording head from before the ink suction to the end of the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, even when the transporting ink has viscosity greater than that of the recording ink, by reducing the viscosity of the transporting ink by utilizing the existing ink discharging electrothermal converter, the transporting ink can well be suctioned and removed from the recording head, and exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is heated by an ink temperature maintaining electrothermal converter and an ink discharging electrothermal converter within the recording head from before the ink suction to the end of the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, even when the transporting ink has viscosity greater than that of the recording ink, by reducing the viscosity of the transporting ink, the transporting ink can well be suctioned and removed from the recording head, and exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is discharged by an ink discharging electrothermal converter within the recording head from before the ink suction to the end of the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, even when the transporting ink has viscosity greater than that of the recording ink, by reducing the viscosity of the transporting ink, the transporting ink can well be suctioned and removed from the recording head, and exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which the transporting ink is heated by an ink temperature maintaining electrothermal converter and the transporting ink is discharged by an ink discharging electrothermal converter within the recording head from before the ink suction to the end of the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, even when the transporting ink has viscosity greater than that of the recording ink, by reducing the viscosity of the transporting ink, the transporting ink can well be suctioned and removed from the recording head, and exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which, when the transporting ink is heated and discharged by an ink discharging electrothermal converter within the recording head from before the ink suction to the end of the ink suction by the suction means in the on-arrival recovery mode, an input signal value, frequency, and ink color to be inputted and a discharge port can be selected appropriately and, by adopting an arrangement in which any input signal value, frequency and ink color can be inputted to the ink temperature holding electrothermal converter of the recording head, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement including time counting means for counting an elapsed time from the forwarding, by optimizing a heating value and a suction condition, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
Since an arrangement including time reading means for reading the elapsed time from the forwarding is adopted, by optimizing the heating value and the suction condition, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement including control means for judging and determining a heating amount of the recording head on the basis of the elapsed time from the forwarding, by optimizing the heating value, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement including temperature history storing means for storing temperature history from the forwarding, by optimizing the heating value and the suction condition, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement including temperature history reading means for reading temperature history from the forwarding, by optimizing the heating value and the suction condition, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement including heating control means for judging and determining the heating amount of the recording head on the basis of the temperature history from the forwarding, by optimizing the heating value, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which a heating temperature for each color can be set by the heating control means, by optimizing the heating value and the suction condition, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement including storing means capable of re-writing and calling the elapsed time and the temperature history from the forwarding, correct information can always be maintained, and, by optimizing an ink discharging condition, heating amount and suction condition, exchange from the transporting ink to the recording ink within the recording head can be effected more positively.
By adopting an arrangement in which viscosity of the transporting ink is greater than that of the recording ink, reserving stability of the recording head can be enhanced.